Relatives of Ingrid Betancourt expressed their outrage against President of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe following revelations that the attack against the second in command of FARC, Raul Reyes, damaged a proposed release of the French-Colombian hostage.

Rafael Correa,President of Ecuador stated on Monday evening that the attack by Colombia last Saturday against the camp in Ecuador where Raul Reyes was killed, happened when” talks were rather advanced to free 11 hostages in Ecuador, among them Ingrid Betancourt”.

“I am horrified by the actions of President Uribe who has always botched every possibility that can allow hostages to return”, Fabrice Delloye, former husband of the hostage and father of her two children, told AFP.

“I think that it is absolutely disgusting, completely vile, absolutely awful what he is doing because if this continues, he will be responsible for the death of Ingrid and the other hostages, he added.

“President Uribe knew perfectly well and for a long time where Raul Reyes was to be found, and he also knew that President Correa, through his Interior Minister, had connections for strictly humanitarian reasons with Raul Reyes to try to find a solution to the hostage problem”, Delloye stated.

“The committee has no words to express its disappointment and its disillusionment”, said a statement from Hervé Marro, from the Ingrid Betancourt support committee ((IBSC), a close friend of the family of the former Presidential candidate, now held for more than six years.

“When the exit door was open wide, dark motives preferred to close it violently and noisily. However we have no more time to lose with this type of unfavourable attitude while Ingrid and the other hostages are dying”, he continued.

Oliver Roubi, Vice-Chairman of the International Federation of Ingrid Betancourt committees (FICIB) thinks that the “fact that President Uribe choose to carry out this operation at the moment when talks were in progress, is not good news”.

“We are asking President Sarkozy again to meet us urgently and we are asking him to state openly and with authority France’s opposition to any action or military manoeuvres, he told AFP.

Earlier, the French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, had, once again, sought “the immediate release on humanitarian grounds of Ingrid Betancourt, who is in very bad health, and he warned FARC rebels that the death of the hostage “would only bring them worldwide condemnation”.

“Uribe does not give a damn about the hostages”

Fabrice Delloye, Ingrid Betancourt’s former husband is revolted by the attitude of the Colombian President.

Le Temps: The military offensive by Bogota against FARC does it mean a backward step in the process started through efforts to free hostages?

Fabrice Delloye: I wonder about the actions of President Uribe. It is very clear that he does not want to hear talk of a humanitarian agreement with FARC. And keeping his country on a war footing, guarantees his success with the people of Colombia. This allows him to conceal all the paramilitary cases that are embarrassing him. There are ongoing testimonies and trials that compromise his close supporters and members of his family.

Uribe is a very skilful political manipulator: he manages to create situations that every time shows him as a strong President. He does not give a damn about hostages rotting in the jungle.

-You say a manipulator?

-FARC, who were unyielding are now in a more flexible mood and inclined to negotiate. And Uribe kills their second in command! The very person with whom the International Community, France, Spain and Switzerland, were negotiating the freeing of hostages. It’s a political set-up. Uribe has shown that he has not kept faith with the International Community.

Reyes’ death is also a real military success. It has allowed him to overshadow the return to Bogota of the four hostages freed last Wednesday and prevented their testimonies from influencing or changing public opinion.

-Are you afraid that reprisals will be taken against the hostages?

-FARC reacted immediately and positively. In a statement, they stressed that Raul Reyes died a hero, but they said they would continue to ask for a humanitarian agreement. This mature approach allows us to think that the hostages will not be subjected to reprisals.

-Can one hope for a release of hostages?

- If FARC free all their civilian hostages, as well as the policemen and military who are sick and if they undertake not to take anymore hostages, they will be eligible to be described as combatants. Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, Alvaro Uribe will have to negotiate.

As head of a country that does not show any consideration for hostages, some of whom were involved in political life in Colombia and had worked for peace, such as Ingrid Betancourt, Uribe will finish up presenting FARC as harmless.

-By opting for military pressure, Bogota has not any chance of obtaining freedom for the hostages?

Wiping out FARC would take some time. The guerrilla army numbers 17,000 men entrenched in remote regions in Colombia and very battled hardened. There’s nothing better that the setting up

of a humanitarian space(to negotiate). Wanting to free hostages by force will condemn them to death.